Connar Loderhose
Dr. Henley
OBU Connections
10 December 2014
Antietam Research Paper The topic I chose is Antietam and the battle what happened there. The battle was a confrontation between the Union army led by General McClellan and the Confederate army led by General Lee. It was said to be the bloodiest battle of the Civil War. The Battle was fought at Sharpsburg between a total of 131,000 men. I chose Antietam because it’s the place where Thomas Phifer died. The Battle of Antietam was a major battle fought between the North and South on September 16, 1862. It lasted just a couple of days until September 18, 1862. The Union was the enforcer and made the first move to start the battle. “Joseph Hooker’s Union corps mounted a powerful assault on Lee’s left flank that began the Battle of Antietam” (civilwar.org). The Union had a strong pursuit of attacks at the beginning of the battle. They attacked repeatedly but the Confederates didn’t back down. The Confederates had fierce and vicious counterattacks that matched the Union’s first strikes. “Towards the center of the battlefield, Union assaults against the Sunken Road would pierce the Confederate center after a terrible struggle for this key defensive position.” (civilwar.org). The Unions advantage to the center was halted there without further advances. Both of the armies only fought during the time. “During the night, both armies tended to their wounded and consolidated their lines.” (civilwar.org). The Battle of Antietam is considered a draw from the military point of view but Lincoln and the Union claimed victory. By the end of the hard fought battle General Lee’s forces were drove from Maryland. The victory was the last step Lincoln needed before he delivered the emancipation proclamation. The Battle of Antietam was a very important, huge, and bloody battle of the Civil War. The Battle of Antietam was fought between a total of 131,00 men. The Union however, outnumbered the Confederates by almost double the men. There were 87,000 soldiers fighting for Union and 45,000 soldiers fighting for the Confederates. There were a total of 22,717 causalities throughout the battle. For the Union army 2,108 men were killed, 9,540 men were wounded, and 753 men went missing or were captured by the other army. For the Confederate army 1,546 men were killed, 7,752 men were wounded, and 1,018 men went missing or were captured by the Union army. The total casualties for the Union army totaled to 12,401 men and the total casualties for the Confederate army was 10,316 men. The Union lost more men during the battle but still came out with the victory because they had more men to begin with. The confederates lost almost a quarter of their men and that’s why they were forced to surrender. After the battle was over there were thousands of bodies lying on the battlefield. The bodies were scattered everywhere and filled in trenches, which made rivers of blood. Union troops that survived came in groups to bury the dead soldiers on the battlefield. They would drag the bodies into lines and pile them together before burying them. There were pictures taken of the battlefield and dead bodies after the battle had ended. These were the pictures that started the idea for digital photography. Thomas Phifer was among one of the 1,546 soldiers of the Confederate army that died during the Battle of Antietam. He had been writing his family letters throughout his entire civil war